Governor Shuts Two Commissioners out of Executive Meeting for Coming Late

Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State surprised a lot of people on Wednesday when, on his orders, two commissioners in the state were shut out of the weekly executive meeting of the Benue State Executive Council. The affected commissioners are: Commissioner for Agriculture, Benjamin Achaver, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Aondowase Chia.

The governor, it was gathered, decided to take such a drastic step because of the nonchalant attitude to work and to official functions by some of his commissioners and political appointees who he believes are taking him for granted by just doing things the way they liked.

Governor Suswam had ordered his security aides to shut the door immediately he walked into the executive chamber, venue of the state executive council meeting. It was reported that the governor had earlier warned that he would no longer tolerate the lackadaisical attitude of his commissioners and other aides, saying, “I will no longer tolerate nonsense from anyone again, after all I’m not seeking for any election again.” This was during the flagging off of this year’s sales of fertilizer in the state on Tuesday.

One of the affected commissioners was alleged to have been petitioned before the ICPC before, for developing a private hotel while still in office.
Others have also pointed out that aside the issue of indiscipline, it also amounts to a breach of protocol for the governor to arrive at the venue of a meeting before the members of the cabinet.

Kudos to HE Gov. Suswam. Government is institution that deserves the highest sense of responsibility on the part of those who are major stakeholders. These Commissioners deserve more than mere shutting out of meeting! Thumbs down for them and Up for Gov. Suswam.